My vision board is focused on the following things – here’s an update of the goals I’ve set and how far I’ve come:

– My financial life
My aim this year was to spend less on small things like lunches and spend more on paying off my car. At the start of the year I increased my debit order (Installment for the car) and wherever I could, I paid extra on it. By the beginning of June I paid off my car – I had my car since 2013, so it was a good feeling to finally have it paid off.

[I have a little more income this year because I also have a side hustle, so this helps me pay more on my bills.]

My next goal: I want to save money for my kid’s first year of school. I’ve learned that having financial goals is so important, and you basically have to work on it with the end goal in mind.

From paying off my car, I’ve learned that you have to sacrifice because you have an end goal in mind. Some months you’ll feel more broke than other months because life happens. It helps though to have a set debit order amount going off and if you have extra to give, you should pay it.

– My wellness
The year started off on a good note, because I cut down on sugar. I went on a detox in February and realised that there’s a lot of sugar in canned food and alcohol, so I cut down on this too. If I eat one canned food meal during a week it’s a lot.

We’ve also cut down on fried foods – I seriously used to have fried chips and burgers every week, but these days, nope! It’s become a lifestyle, we just try to cook food healthier and try to add vegetables at every meal. Well if I do crave take aways it’s normally for lunch.

I have opted to bring more lunch from home, which is healthier and it saves me money. Sometimes once a week I’ll have a take away at work for lunch.

I’ve been saving money on food because I’m finishing all the food in my cupboard before buying new food – before I would buy just because I crave for this or that. Now I plan meals or I make a meal of ingredients that’s already there.

– Travel more
We travelled as a family with the train from Johannesburg to Cape Town in April.

In May I travelled to Cape Town for work (on my own) and it was lovely to sleep in a bed alone (hahahaha). I also went to visit family in Port Elizabeth and I attended the EC Meetup for the first time. It was amazing to meet my online friends in person.

A post shared by Mel’s Postbox (@melissajavan) on May 29, 2019 at 11:09am PDT

– Be more fashionable
In the beginning of the year I told myself I want to wear more fashionable or professional looking clothing for the office.

Instead of only buying clothes for my little girl, I started buying for myself too – even if it’s only one item. I’ve always felt that I didn’t need to buy for myself, but I realise I’m a professional and I need to take care of how I look.

An amazing thing that happened is that a friend of mine gave me sexy boots. And it’s not high heels so I wear it a lot.

– Celebrate my life more
I told myself that I want to celebrate my life more, actually celebrate small wins or even my birthday. I haven’t invested in this yet. I think it’s because I’m future focused and I have a few financial goals that I’m attending to.

– Stay motivated
I’ve learned that what you consume is so important, even if it’s social media posts or podcasts or stuff we read on the internet. And of course, I’m just happy to be alive and well, that keeps me grateful.

Have you made goals for this year? Is anything ticked off your list yet? Thank you for reading.